Energy efficiency and sustainability of AI data processing in Data Centres (IA)

Type of action: HORIZON Innovation Actions Developing an agile and secure single market for data and trustworthy AI services is central to Europe’s digital sovereignty and competitiveness. The convergence of the Telco-Edge-Cloud continuum (3C) with open orchestration platforms will unlock the transformative potential of AI across strategic sectors, from mobility and energy to health and manufacturing, fostering new services and business models. Building a sovereign Open Internet Stack, rooted in open-source, interoperable and standard-based solutions, will reinforce trust, resilience and innovation, while ensuring Europe retains control over critical digital infrastructures. At the same time, decentralised and federated approaches to AI data processing, combined with breakthroughs in sustainable data centres, will help overcome Europe’s compute bottlenecks and dependencies, and reduce the environmental footprint of AI. By aligning with the Data Union Strategy and Common European Data Spaces, these efforts will deliver secure, compliant and adaptive data-sharing frameworks that empower citizens, businesses and administrations. Together, they will strengthen Europe’s ability to innovate, scale and lead globally in data and AI, anchoring digital sovereignty in line with EU values and strategic interests. Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in both Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) falling under this destination. For additional information please see “Restrictions on the participation of legal entities established in China” found in General Annex B of the General Annexes. ">General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other Eligible Conditions In line with the “restriction on control in innovation actions in critical technology areas” delineated in General Annex B of the General Annexes, entities established in an eligible country but which are directly or indirectly controlled by China or by a legal entity established in China are not eligible to participate in the action. Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks. Described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds To ensure a balanced portfolio coverage, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking, but also to at least three proposals addressing expected outcomes 1-3 (improve heat removal from high-power AI, novel backup power systems and data centre optimisation for energy-efficient AI processing) and one proposal focussed on offering an open pilot demonstration site, subject to proposals passing all evaluation thresholds. Described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme] Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA): Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) Guidance HE Programme Guide  Model Grant Agreements (MGA) HE MGA  Call-specific instructions  Ownership Control Declaration Annex Additional documents: HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes HE Programme Guide HE Framework Programme 2021/695 HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509 Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions  Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement Guidance on participation in EU calls with ownership and control restrictions